THE long-running debate over the appropriateness of keeping dolphins in captivity is continuing, with the Dolphin Cove attraction in Ocho Rios strongly dismissing suggestions from animal rights activists that a plan to import five dolphins from Cuba threatens the well-being of those mammals.

Importation of the dolphins is part of a proposed $150-million expansion being undertaken by Dolphin Cove. The project would also include new attractions and water sports that would employ an additional 80 persons.

“Dolphins are not an environmental issue. They create employment so people don’t have to be squatting and cutting down the trees and burning them to make coal, because they are earning some money,” said Stafford Burrows, the managing partner of Dolphin Cove.

“And in a country like ours, where the development of the economy is extremely important to the stability of the country, we should not be taking a view about dolphins that is – of a nature – more strict, more rigid than the United States,” Burrowes cautioned.

The planned expansion, for which Burrows and his wife Marilyn have already secured a permit from the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), is to see the creation of a 1,000-foot beach to accommodate a new range of activities, such as a sea lion show.

The new water sports are to be compatible with existing activities at the water park where humans are allowed to swim with the 12 dolphins currently “in-house”.

But Diana McCaulay, the executive director of the Jamaica Environmental Trust (JET) which has spearheaded opposition to the importation of the dolphins, argued that dolphins in captivity were stressed, leading to death in some cases – a situation that would leave the facility unsustainable in the long term. Moreover, she said, it was irresponsible to remove dolphins from the wild when little was known of their population, as in this case.

“All the scientists agree that Cuba and Jamaica share a dolphin stock. If we are taking Caribbean dolphins, you have to have the information to determine whether their removal from the wild is in any way sustainable. We don’t know about the stock structure of the population,” McCaulay complained to the Sunday Observer.

“I think to decide to agree to issue an import permit for dolphins, Caribbean dolphins, in the absence of this information, is irresponsible,” she added, apparently pointing at the authorities.

However, Burrows contended that McCaulay was “misinformed”. For one thing, he said, there was more than enough data on dolphins from Cuba and, for that matter, the Gulf of Mexico.

“There are tons of information. The Cuban authorities and the Mexican authorities have done intense research in the Gulf of Mexico and in the Caribbean, particularly in the area of Cuba, as to the population and there is no shortage. Miss McCaulay is incorrect,” he said.

“I have provided NEPA with many documents and surveys, which were done in Cuban waters. There is nothing suggesting that there are not a lot of animals in those waters,” he added.

Meanwhile, McCaulay and JET have been receiving support from Cathy Williamson, a captivity campaigner with the United Kingdom-based Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS). WDCS also has concerns relating to the live capture of dolphins, and the bottlenose dolphin in particular, which is targeted for display in amusement parks and dolphinaria like Dolphin Cove.

“WDCS believes that it is impossible to accommodate the mental, physical and social needs of dolphins in captivity and that it is cruel to confine them,” Williamson said in a letter to the Sunday Observer.

“Scientific evidence indicates that dolphins in captivity suffer extreme mental and physical stress – which is revealed in aggression between themselves and towards humans – boredom and a lower life expectancy and higher infant mortality than in the wild. Dolphin Cove already allows visitors to swim with its dolphins. WDCS has many concerns relating to the interaction between visitors and dolphins in captive facilities.”

The concerns, she noted, included:

. the welfare of the animal, including the lack of respite from forced interaction that such programmes may offer and the potential for injury due to irresponsible human behaviour;

. the risk of aggression towards people; and

. the possibility for disease transmission between humans and dolphins.

Burrows remained dismissive of the WDCS’ concerns over captivity, insisting that dolphins were not an endangered species.

“The Atlantic bottlenose dolphin used in attractions are not an endangered species and they are moved around under the protection of CITES (Convention for Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Fauna) and it is quite common to have animals moving from one country to another country.

We do move horses and other things. So there is nothing unusual or strange about it,” he said.

That notwithstanding, Burrows made it clear that the dolphins under his care would not be in captivity in the true sense of the word.

“The new facility that is being built in Ocho Rios allows the dolphins to go out and swim in the wide open sea,” he said. “So the animals are not confined. Not only is it a natural ocean environment, it has an opening to allow the animals to freely swim around in the wider Caribbean. Imagine you are at home with a dog and you leave your gate open.”

And in the same way that a dog returns home, so too will the dolphins, he predicts. “It comes back because it is extremely happy and enjoys where it is staying, not suffering from mental stress.”

McCaulay was not impressed by that argument, adding that her concerns and those of other animal rights groups could not simply be dismissed. And she, like the WDCS, has called on the authorities to rescind the permit to undertake the expansion of the facility.

“The concern I have is about good wildlife management,” she said. “The basic tenets of wildlife management say you cannot remove animals from the population, particularly not females – and female dolphins are preferred for some of the dolphin attractions – without information on the stocks of dolphins.

“And that applies to dolphins. It applies to elephants. It applies to any population of wild animals. So my concerns are not ‘nothing’. They are extremely well-founded and the mortalities are not ‘nothing’ either,” she said in reference to the five dolphins that have died at the Dolphin Cove facility since its establishment in 2000.

Among the noted causes of death have been neurological shock due to excessive pain and other related factors, severe peritonitis caused by perforated ulcer and heart attack, the Sunday Observer has learnt.

Burrows is maintaining that the death of animals, as with humans, was only normal.

“If you keep animals, from time to time they will die. And there is nothing that caused animals to die here that were not either of natural or unavoidable causes. We don’t all live forever,” he said.

At any rate, he argued, every effort was made to stave off death, as they ensured the good health of their mammals. “You have to recognise that the animals are very precious to start with, very valuable.

Of all animals, I don’t think there are any animals that are cared for as much as a dolphin. So aside from allowing them a lot of space for swimming, the water quality is regularly checked, the food is of the highest standard, they get a lot of medical attention and they are extremely happy and well looked after,” he said.

In a counter-proposal to importation, McCaulay would prefer to see Dolphin Cove expand its operations by breeding dolphins.

“. If Dolphin Cove is seriously interested in doing captive breeding like they say, they should be working with the ones that they have and building it up slowly, not going back to the wild every year,” she said.

Burrows seemed to find this suggestion more palatable, saying it was his company’s intention to breed the mammals and that this was a key element of their planned expansion programme.

“The purpose of the new lagoon we are building is to develop a breeding programme, and in fact that’s crucial to the whole expansion of the industry. We submitted to NEPA our proposed breeding programme several months ago and we are hoping to work along with them to have a breeding programme developed in Jamaica,” he said.